Nefertiti Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Contents of the Box
• Game Setup
• Description of Game Elements
  • Gift Cards
  • The Markets (on the gameboard)
  • Special Bid Square Symbols (Markets Sheet)
  • Closing Conditions by Market (Markets Sheet)
• The Course of the Game
  • 1. Play a Character (optional)
  • 2. Place a Servant (mandatory)
  • Market Closing
• Characters Sheet
  • Vizier (1×)
  • Merchant (3×, including the First Merchant)
  • High Priest (1×)
  • Chief (1×)
  • Royal Servant (2×)
  • Scribe (4×: one +3, two +2, one +1)
  • Treasurer (1×)
• Final Scoring
• Special Thanks

Goal of the Game

The players represent Egyptian nobles who, eager to earn important political positions through royal appointment, send their servants out to collect gifts that will be presented to Akhenaton. The pharaoh will award prestige points based on the gifts' originality. The player who earns the most prestige wins.

Contents of the Box

• 1 gameboard with four markets: Gizeh, Akhet-aton, Abou Simbel and Louqsor
• 4 Reserve tiles, one for each market
• 16 Servant pawns and 4 counter pawns in 4 colors (green, red, blue and black)
• 30 coin tokens (Deben): 10 gold worth 2 Deben each and 20 silver worth 1 (for a total treasury of 40 Deben)
• 12 Royal Seal tokens
• 46 Gift cards: 8 senets (5 singles and 3 doubles), 8 harps, 8 chairs, 6 mirrors, 6 statuettes, 5 necklaces, 5 gold crafts
• 1 Akhenaton card
• 13 Characters cards
• 2 six-sided dice
• 1 "Market Closed" tile
• 1 ankh memory token
• 1 double-sided Markets and Characters rules sheet
• 1 rules booklet

Game Setup

1. Place the gameboard in the center of the table.
2. For your first game, place the 4 Reserves as shown on the illustration. The animal symbols (cat, jackal, crocodile, ibis) help you identify which Reserve is associated with which market. With experienced players, place each Reserve tile randomly on the left or right stall of its market.
3. Place one Deben (a silver coin) on each Reserve. Place the "Market Closed" tile on the visible stall of Louqsor. Thus, the entire market is closed at the beginning of the game.
4. Sort the different character cards by type, face up, to the side of the board. With 3 players: remove 1 Character card "scribe +2".
5. Each player takes 4 Servant pawns as well as the score counter of the color of their choice. Place the counters on the 0 square of the prestige path. At any given moment, the total prestige of a player is shown by their position on the path.
6. Shuffle the Gift cards to form a draw pile. Draw 4 Gift cards without revealing them and reshuffle them with the Akhenaton card. Then, place these 5 cards on the bottom of the draw pile. With 3 players: first place the 8 senet cards back in the box.
7. Draw and place 4 Gift cards face up above each open market. Place the first card on the upper row with a Royal Seal on it and the 3 other cards on the lower row. Place the remaining Royal Seals to the side of the gameboard.
8. Each player rolls the two dice, and the player rolling the highest total plays first. Turn order continues clockwise around the table. The first player takes 8 Deben, the second and third 9, and the last 10. With 3 players: the first player takes 9 Deben, the others 10.

Description of Game Elements

Gift Cards

Players purchase these Gifts at the markets, and they are worth prestige points during the final scoring. Each Gift card has the following information:

• Total number of this type of card available in the game (5 for the gold works).
• Number of prestige points that each Gift of this type is worth, which varies depending on the number of players who possess this type of Gift.

For example, if only one player possesses gold works during a scoring, each gold work is worth 14 prestige points. If three or four players hold gold works, each gold work is worth only 7 prestige points.

The Markets (on the gameboard)

The markets are where players can buy Gifts. Each market has two different stalls (one on the left and one on the right), with different bid values and closing conditions; only one stall is open at a time with the other stall being covered by the market Reserve. Each market has the following information:

• Bid squares upon which the players place their Servant pawns. The number corresponds to the bid that the player might offer to pay for one of the Gift cards at this market.
• Market Reserve: This tile covers one of the two market stalls. Deben (money coins) are placed on the Reserve during the transactions that take place in this market.
• Market closing conditions. In the example (Abou-Simbel), the market closes and the Gifts can be purchased as soon as the combined bids of the servants reach a total of 17 or more.

Special Bid Square Symbols (Markets Sheet)

Certain bid squares carry a symbol that modifies the normal rules:

• Deben symbol: If a player places a Servant on a square bearing this symbol, the player immediately takes a Deben from the market's Reserve (if the market has any money).
• Single card symbol: If, when the market closes, the highest bidder is on a square bearing this symbol, that player may take only 1 card (with or without a Royal Seal).
• Extra card symbol: If, when the market closes, the highest bidder is on a square bearing this symbol, that player may take an extra card from the lower row in addition to their normal purchase (there are 2 options: either take one of the three cards in the lower row, or take the card with the Royal Seal plus one card from the lower row).

Closing Conditions by Market (Markets Sheet)

Each market's two stalls close under different conditions:

Gizeh:

• Left stall — a pyramid of 7 squares valued 1, 2, 3, 4 (Deben), 5, 6, 7. The market closes as soon as Servants are placed on 4 or more connected squares (side by side and adjacent, not diagonally). Examples: 1-3-4-5 or 2-4-5-7...
• Right stall — 8 squares in two rows valued 1, 2, 3, 4 (Deben), 5, 6, 7, 8. The market closes as soon as 3 Servants of different colors, or any 4 Servants (regardless of their color and bids), are placed on the stall.

Akhet-Aton:

• Left stall — a 4-level pyramid valued 0 / 1, 2 / 3, 4 (Deben), 5 / 6, 7, 8, 10 (Extra card). The market closes as soon as at least one Servant is present on each of the 4 levels of the pyramidal structure of the stall. Examples: 0-1-4-7 or 0-1-3-8...
• Right stall — a 3×3 grid valued 0, 1, 2 / 3, 4, 5 (Deben) / 6, 7, 8. As in a game of tic-tac-toe, the market closes as soon as 3 Servants form a line, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Examples: 0-3-6 or 2-4-6 or 3-4-5...

Abou Simbel:

• Left stall — 7 squares valued 1, 1 / 2 (Deben), 2 / 5, 7, 8. The market closes as soon as the sum of the offers is equal to 11, or equal to 14, or superior or equal to 17. There are several bid squares with the same value: ties are settled on each line from right to left. Examples: 1-1-2-7 or 2-5-7 or 1-2-7-8...
• Right stall — 9 squares valued 1, 1 / 2, 2, 3 (Deben) / 3, 6, 7, 12 (Extra card). The market closes as soon as the sum of the offers is superior or equal to 17. Ties are settled the same way. Examples: 1-2-2-6-7 or 2-3-12...

Louqsor:

• Left stall — 7 squares valued 1, 2, 3, 4 (each bearing the Single card symbol), 5, 6, 7. When a player places a Servant in this stall, they roll two dice. The market closes if the result of each die corresponds to a number on which Servants have been placed. If not, the player keeps the dice in front of them: if at the end of their next turn no new Servant has been placed in this stall, they may roll the dice again to determine whether the market now closes. Example: if the squares 2, 3 and 7 are occupied, the market closes if the player rolls 2-2, 2-3, or 3-3.
• Right stall — 7 squares valued 2, 3, 4, 5 (each bearing the Single card symbol), 6, 7, 8. When a player places a Servant in this stall, they roll one die. The market closes if the result on the die is less than or equal to the number of Servants forming the longest chain (Servants next to each other) present in this stall. If not, the player keeps the die in front of them: if at the end of their next turn no new Servant has been placed in this stall, they may roll the die again to determine whether the market now closes. Example: if the squares 3, 4, 5 and 8 are occupied, the longest chain adds up to 3 (3-4-5); the market closes on a die result of 3 or less.

The Course of the Game

The players take turns clockwise. During their turn, a player may play a Character card, then must place one of their Servant pawns on a "bid square" in one of the three open markets.

1. Play a Character (optional)

• By spending a Royal Seal acquired during a previous game turn, the player may recruit one of the character cards still available next to the gameboard. The spent Seal is placed next to the gameboard.
• The player immediately uses the power on the character card, then removes it from the game. The player may spend only one Royal Seal (and hence play only one character card) per turn. The description of the characters and their powers is found on the Characters sheet.

2. Place a Servant (mandatory)

• The player places one and only one of their Servants on an empty bid square on one of the three open market stalls (only one servant may be placed in each square). It is not possible to place a Servant in the market that is currently closed.
• If the player is the first to place a pawn on an empty open market, they earn a Deben, and take it from that market's Reserve (if no money is available, the player earns nothing). If the player places their Servant on a bid square bearing the Deben symbol, the player immediately earns a Deben and takes it from the market's Reserve, if possible. A player may earn both bonuses with the placement of a single Servant (arriving first on an empty market and placing a pawn on a square with the Deben symbol awards up to two Deben if available in the corresponding Reserve).
• One player may have several Servants in the same open market.
• If the player no longer has any Servants available, they choose one market that already contains at least one of their Servants; that market is immediately declared closed. This action replaces the placement of a Servant.
• The player's turn ends and the opponent to the left plays next.

Market Closing

If, after placing a Servant, the closing conditions of a market are fulfilled, the market is immediately closed. (See the Markets sheet above for the closing conditions of each market.)

The players may now resolve the bids made by each Servant in order to buy the Gift cards. Each Servant's bid corresponds to the value of the square where they stand. The Servants with higher bids are resolved before those with lower ones.

1. For the Servant who made the highest bid:

• The player who owns the Servant must pay as many Deben as the value of the winning bid. The player places the coins in the Reserve of this market; these coins are added to any Deben that might already be present in the Reserve.
• The player now takes either two Gift cards of their choice from those that don't bear the Royal Seal (meaning two of the three Gifts in the lower row), or the Gift card on the upper row as well as the Royal Seal placed on it.
• If this player doesn't have enough money, they pay nothing, but out of shame must discard a Gift card previously acquired (this card is removed from the game). If the player has no Gifts, the turn is simply passed. Nevertheless the following Servant is not considered as the highest bidder.
• In any case, the player removes their Servant pawn.

2. For each other Servant:

In descending order of bids, each player with a Servant in this market chooses one of the following two actions:

• Either purchase one Gift card from all those remaining in the market (this includes the Gift on the upper row as well as the Royal Seal, if this Gift hasn't been taken yet). The player must pay a sum equal to the Servant's bid to the market Reserve.
• Or take half of the Deben (rounding up) in the market Reserve (if the Reserve has no money, the player may simply pass).
• In any case, the player then removes the Servant from the market.

At any time, a player may exchange 1 gold Deben for 2 silver Deben. Throughout the game, each player must keep their Deben and their Gift cards visible.

3. Once all Servants have been removed from the market, the market is closed:

• Slide the Reserve tile onto the stall just played (revealing its other stall), then place the "Market Closed" tile on this market's other stall (this stall will be accessible when this market reopens).
• Any Gift cards not purchased stay in place. They will be available again once the market reopens.

4. Prepare the previously closed market (from which the "Market Closed" tile has just been removed) for new business:

• Move any Gift cards in this market. Fill the upper row with the card farthest to the left in the lower row (if necessary), then slide any remaining cards to the left of the lower row.
• Then draw as many Gift cards as needed to fill the market with four Gift cards.
• Finally, place a Royal Seal on the Gift card in the upper row, if one is not already present. If no Royal Seals are available, skip this step.
• The game continues with the player to the left of the player who closed the market now taking their turn.

As a memory aid, the ankh-shaped pawn may be taken by the player who causes the closing of a market. Once the market is settled, the player to the left of the one holding the ankh takes the next turn.

If the Akhenaton card is drawn while placing Gift cards in a market, this market is permanently closed (turn its Reserve at an angle to indicate this). No other market will reopen for the rest of the game. Continue to place Servants until the final two markets are closed. Once these two markets are closed, proceed to the final scoring to finish the game.

Characters Sheet

Recruited by spending a Royal Seal, as described under "Play a Character" above. There are 13 Character cards, sorted by type and placed face up beside the gameboard at setup.

Vizier (1×)

Allows the player to immediately score 2 points for each different type of Gift that the player currently holds (the Gifts are not discarded).

Example: Black recruits the Vizier and scores 8 points because she holds 4 types of Gifts: senet, statuette, mirror and necklace.

Merchant (3×, including the First Merchant)

Allows a player to exchange a Gift card with an opponent. If the maximum* value of the Gift given away is inferior to the one that was taken, the player who played the Merchant must pay the difference in Deben. The player choosing the Merchant must hold in front of them at least one Gift of the type that they want to take. The First Merchant (marked ×2) allows the player to make two exchanges, but it must be with two different players.

*Maximum value of a Gift card is the leftmost value on its scoring table — the value used if only a single player possesses that type of Gift (for example, 14 for a necklace). The maximum value for a double senet is 12.

Example: Red recruits the First Merchant. She exchanges one of her harps for Green's statuette (paying 2 Deben to cover the difference in maximum value) and one necklace for Blue's statuette (when comparing maximum values, the necklace is worth more than the statuette, so neither player pays anything in Deben).

During game setup, place the Merchants in a single pile with the First Merchant placed on top.

High Priest (1×)

Allows the player to place an extra Servant during this turn, in addition to the normal 1 Servant. These Servants may be placed in the same market or different markets; if the first Servant placed closes a market, the market closing is settled immediately before the player places the second Servant.

Note: If the player doesn't have enough Servants in reserve to place two, they designate one market where at least one of their Servants is present; this market immediately closes, and this action replaces the placement of one of the Servants.

Chief (1×)

Allows the player to take any Gift card (even one with a Royal Seal on it) from the market where the "Market Closed" tile is placed.

Near the end of the game, more than one market may be closed at the same time: the Thief can steal only from the market with the "Market Closed" tile and not any other closed markets. (This is how the card's own effect text refers to itself, even though the card is titled "Chief.")

Royal Servant (2×)

Makes all players (including the one who recruited her) discard a Gift card of the type chosen by the player who recruited the Servant. All players immediately score points equal to the current value of this Gift.

Example: Green holds 5 chairs while 2 other players each also have a chair. Green recruits the Royal Servant and chooses the type "chair": the 3 players discard a chair card, scoring 5 points each. Green still holds 4 chair cards that are now worth 9 points each for the final scoring (rather than 5 before the intervention of the Royal Servant).

During game setup, place the Royal Servants one on top of the other.

Scribe (4×: one +3, two +2, one +1)

Allows the player to score one type of Gift that the player possesses; they immediately score points as indicated in the "Final Scoring" section below, then discard all cards of this type. This scoring is personal; if other players have cards of the chosen type, they keep their cards and do not score any points.

Note: The scribes belong to different castes with more or less influence, and award bonus points (+3, +2 or +1) for each Gift scored in this manner.

Reminder: The "double senet" cards count as 2 Gifts for this bonus.

Example: Blue holds 1 double senet and 2 single senets while 2 other senet cards are held by Black. He recruits the Scribe +2 and scores 7 points for each of his 4 senets (the current value of 5 points plus a 2 point bonus) for a total of 28 points. He discards all of his senets, and the current value of the Senets held by Black goes up to 6 points.

During game setup, place the Scribe cards in a single pile, the +3 on top, followed by the +2s, and a +1 last. (With 3 Players, one "scribe +2" card is removed before setup — see Game Setup, step 4.)

Treasurer (1×)

Allows the player to take up to 4 Deben out of the Reserve of a single market (whether open or closed).

Final Scoring

Once the Akhenaton card is revealed and all of the markets are closed, the game ends. The players now present their Gifts to Akhenaton.

• Each Gift is worth a number of prestige points, with the value depending on the number of players possessing that type of Gift. Consult the table printed on the bottom of each Gift card: the upper part of the table indicates the number of players possessing that type of Gift, the number below indicates the number of corresponding points.
• Each player also scores 1 point for every two Deben that they possess and 3 points for each Royal Seal they didn't use.

Example: If a single player holds statuettes, each statuette is worth 11 points; if 3 or 4 players have statuettes, each statuette is worth only 6 points. The "double senet" card counts as if the player held 2 senets in front of them. Hence they award 12, 10 or 8 points, depending on the number of players possessing senets (whether simple or double senet cards).

The winner is the player having accumulated the most prestige points. In the event of a tie, the tie is broken by the player having kept the most Deben, who is declared the winner.

Special Thanks

The authors thank all the testers and friends from Strasbourg (especially "la Tarte aux Billes" and "la Maison des Jeux"), Paris (especially Fireball and Interlude Café) and Saint-Pair-sur-mer, and most particularly Geneviève Cretin, Nathalie Geoffrin, Ophélie Legrand, Claire Montiage, Camille Parisel, Sophie Roche, "The" Jean Marc André, William Attia, Dominique Bodin, Renaud Chaillat, Philippe Clavaud, Cyril Demaegd, Christophe Frantz, Michaël Giraud, Denis Leonhard, Baptiste Morel, Laurent Nguyen, Frédéric Pfister, Steeve Sittler, Jacques Vigneron and the Philiboys. Thanks to W. Eric Martin (www.boardgamenews.com) for editing the English rules.

"Nefertiti is dedicated to my father, who mastered the art of bidding in tarot while having nothing in his hand, and who gave me the taste for games." — Guillaume Montiage